[stjimmyl]

Today, me and the wifey got the keys to our new house. Inside, it's an absolute pit of a place. Woodchip everywhere, threadbear carpets, artex ceilings... the list goes on.

I have full permission from SWMBO to convert the existing internal garage (9' x 17" approx) into a fully fledged, bat cave of a media room with 7.1 and a massive screen with a PJ, 2 rows of seats (the rears on a plinth).

The lounge will be a more modest affair, with a 40-50" screen and my existing Onkyo 609 powering some Boston Acoustic Soundware XS's.

Here's a pic of the outside as I dont want loads of 'this thread is useless without pics' signs all over the place.

I will be posting pictures of progress here, please feel free to chip in and offer ideas and advice!

Looking forward to taking the journey into AV addiction with you guys.


Many thanks...

J

[Trollslayer]

Bat cave? Nice choice of tweeters...
Have fun!

[MonkeyBoy74]

Looks like a cracking place - will be interested in seeing the 'before' pics.

[jjpearce05]

The house looks great from the outside - plenty of character - well done

[benjani]

Lovely house!

[mannyjarnail]

congratulations on the new house purchase and i love the thread title.

[Wull]

Happy days!!

[craigizmo2k2]

Looks big enough to have more than one system in my opinion!! Have fun, subscribed to this one.

[jsniper]

Subscribed as this could be a cracking thread! I'm looking forward to some more pics!

[Rick2102]

You have a really nice looking house there, good luck with your project.

I guess your happy with the Onkyo and Boston Acoustic Soundware XS's? I am looking at the 609 or TXNR 515 and the Boston Acoustic Soundware XS's as they seem a good value/quality combo.

Thanks

[stjimmyl]

A quick update. Completely smashed the house to bits. Needs load of electrical work, plastering, plumbing etc.

Just a few piccies. Will post some plans when I have time.





Future media room!



Living room. Tv will be above fire. All walls will be channeled for cables tomorrow.



CARNAGE!!!!

[Arcam_boy]

Nice progress buddy looking forward to this one :-)

[rikki2ks]

Liking the look of this one. Lovely gaff....subscribed :-)

[stjimmyl]

End of the 9th day. Finally got round to some cabling.

Running:

Hdmi from lounge to master bedroom
Hdmi from lounge to office
Cat6 from under stairs to lounge
Cat6 to bedroom
Cat6 to office
Spare cat 6 to future media room

Lounge will have a 4 way hdmi splitter to send feed to the above rooms.

I've also run all the speaker cables in and also speaker cables from the lounge to speakers in the dining room.

.... KNACKERED!

All advice appreciated.

[Arcam_boy]

Good progress mate, have you run the cables in some trunking or just in the wall?

[stjimmyl]

Originally Posted by Arcam_boy

Good progress mate, have you run the cables in some trunking or just in the wall?

Thanks. Cables are all run in the wall with no trunking. Wouldn't it all cables and go behind plaster. Shame, but the way it is. I've put a little sand and cement over them to protect from the plasters trowel.

[Arcam_boy]

The lime in the cement may break down the plastic of the cable leaving the wires exposed. I'd certainly advise plastic trunking to secure all your cables in mate!

[Philw101]

Wow - this is going to be an interesting read! I love these home build threads! Nice looking house (well from the outside anyhow ) Keep us updated buddy!

[stjimmyl]

Originally Posted by Arcam_boy

The lime in the cement may break down the plastic of the cable leaving the wires exposed. I'd certainly advise plastic trunking to secure all your cables in mate!

Appreciate the heads up... but, from what I've been told, when a copper pipe goes in sand and cement, it's wrapped in plastic to protect it. THe plumber put duct tape on all pipes that he was burying in the walls and said it wont get through the plastic - same theory as underfloor heating. I'm using this principle and theory is it wont harm the shielding of the cables. Modern back boxes for sockets are also plastic.

If anyone has any hard evidence, i'd like to see it though!

Originally Posted by Philw101

Wow - this is going to be an interesting read! I love these home build threads! Nice looking house (well from the outside anyhow ) Keep us updated buddy!

Thanks for the comments. A long way to go yet!

[bluenose24]

have subscribed to this thread :P

[J-a-m-e-s_7]

Originally Posted by Arcam_boy

The lime in the cement may break down the plastic of the cable leaving the wires exposed. I'd certainly advise plastic trunking to secure all your cables in mate!

I will second what Arcam Boy has said. When chasing out av cables in walls it is good practise and highly recommended that the cables are protected with either trunking, conduit or capping this will protect the cable from any chance of being broken down by cement/plaster (to my knowledge the pvc sheathing on cables is pretty good and should not be affected much if any) but also it will allow you to add or remove any cable should you wish in the future. Without it you would have to re-chase the cables and once they have been plastered over and it goes off the cables will not be re-useable. For the sake of a few pounds i would certainly recomend it. Mains electrical cables should be capped for switches and sockets and safe zones should be used to run any cables. As for electrical backboxes the plastic ones are usually surface mount or dryline boxes anything for solid walls will be metal.

[stjimmyl]

The Spread is here working on the lounge.

Wiring is in for 2 spotlight speakers in the dining room.

All lounge wiring is done. Some cable chasing remains to get to the rest of the house.

Can't wait I start the cinema room

[Werdenskrieg]

Wow, what a great house! When was it built?

[windhoek]

I hope it's not too late to suggest this, but please don't plaster the cables directly into the wall because if you ever need to change them, you'll need to rip the plaster off again. Instead, plaster a some kind of tube in and run the cables through it; that way if you ever need to change a cable, you just need to pull it out and insert a new one.

This is the method I used to hide cables between my AVR and TV. You can buy cheap tubes from B&Q and 45 and 90 degree angle connectors to accommodate any bends.

[stjimmyl]

There's too many cables to fit in any size tube or trunking. It a done deal now. Plasterer reckons they are all safe. If I need to change them I will have to re-chase when I decorate.

Going up the lounge wall I have 5x speaker cable, 2 x hdmi, 4 x cat 6, 2x power. All in about 2.5 inches wide - no chance of tubing.

This way is fine by me and the chapter is written.

Thanks for all the advice so far. More updates to follow soon.

Plumbers are still in an costing a fortune.

[Arcam_boy]

Although I appreciate its done now this http://www.marshall-tufflex.com/shop...60ea22745ceee9 would of easily accommodated all your cables and really you would of wanted to run the power cables in a separate lot of trunking to avoid interference!

Not trying to pull you down just offer a little friendly advice as it may seem trivial now but when you need to swap a cable or run another one its not quite as simple as just chasing the wall out and re-decorating again!

[stjimmyl]

Photo dump:

It's coming together. Speakers and tv should go up tonight!

Lounge and master bedroom plastered and paited, tiles going down, kitchen nearly done. Granite arrives next week.

One regret: I WISH I HAD WIRED EVERYTHING TO UNDER THE STAIRS SO THERE IS NO AV GEAR IN THE LOUNGE! Hindsight is a marvellous thing. It will still be awesome in the lounge, but would have been great to have an invisible install.

Cheers,

[stevos]

I am dead jeoulous of the house, but not so much of the DIY it needs.

Going to be one stunning place when you have it all fitted up.

[Laudrup1]

Looks like a very intersting project. House looks lovely from the outside. Will be great to see it move on on the inside.

[zad]

Originally Posted by stjimmyl

There's too many cables to fit in any size tube or trunking. It a done deal now. Plasterer reckons they are all safe. If I need to change them I will have to re-chase when I decorate.

Going up the lounge wall I have 5x speaker cable, 2 x hdmi, 4 x cat 6, 2x power. All in about 2.5 inches wide - no chance of tubing.

This way is fine by me and the chapter is written.

Thanks for all the advice so far. More updates to follow soon.

Plumbers are still in an costing a fortune.

What power are you running along side the hdmi etc? I have heard so many people saying they have interference on pictures or crackling speakers.. then find out they have power along side there cables..

House looks ace though...